Forget Me Not
Scripture: Genesis 3:1-13; Deuteronomy 4:9; Psalm 119:11
Introduction
Back when I was a child I remember a Hallmark card or a flower shop commercial around Valentine’s Day with the slogan “Forget Me Not”. I cannot remember the specifics of the ads except that you should not forget the one you love on that special day and what better way to show that than with a nice card and flowers. This Wednesday would not be the day you’d want to forget that special someone in your life – just a hit for all the guys and gals here today. My message this morning is titled “Forget Me Not” and I am not talking about our personal relationships with each other, but our relationship with God. Just imagine in your mind that right now, at this moment in time, God is asking you not to forget Him. With that said, think about how many times you have forgotten something. Do you remember what you went through when you finally remembered what it was you forgot? Sometimes you were glad you remembered while there were other times when you were embarrassed that you had actually forgot. Then there were the times when we were children that we did some things that our parents firmly told us not to do. When we got caught we swore that we had forgotten that were not supposed to do whatever it was that we did. Sometimes we did forget but probably most of the time we knew better but we did it anyway hoping that we would not get caught. But the excuse of “forgetting” always sounded better rather it was true or not. This morning I want to talk with you about how our tendency to forget things on a spiritual level continues to get us into trouble.
Last week during my message on being blessed, I asked you two questions. The first question was “How many of you think you are blessed?” Almost everyone in the room raised their hand in agreement that they thought they were blessed. Then I asked this question: “How many of you know that you are blessed?” When I asked that question, again, almost every hand went up. I shared with you at that time that you cannot have it both ways. Either you think you are blessed or you know it. This same theory holds true for your understanding of God. A lot of people “think” they know God while others actually do “know” Him. Before I go any further, let me give you the definition of “think” and “know”. Webster’s dictionary defines “think” as “to form or have in the mind; to judge or consider; to have an opinion.” Webster also defines “know” as “to be well informed about; to have knowledge; to be aware of; to recognize or distinguish.” Can you see the difference between think and know? When you know something there is confidence, assurance based on some concrete evidence. When you “think” something, depending on the situation, there could be confidence, but there could also be a lot of doubt because all of the evidence may or may not be present. When you know, it is hard to be swayed. When you “think” you know, it represents an opportunity for your mind to be changed.
I. The Problem With Thinking You Know God
As I mentioned before, there are many people who “think” they know God. This opinion is based on things that they may have read – including the bible – as well as the opinions of others. For those individuals who “think” they know God, the problem that they face is when their “thinking” of God’s principles conflict with their personal desires. When you have learning without the commitment to retain the knowledge the learning can easily be forgotten for it was learned (or memorized) for a specific period of time, not for longevity. I have learned a lot of things in my life, but I remember those things that I committed to knowing which came through and brought me wisdom. For example, I took geometry in school and got a high “A”, not a barely “A”, but a high “A”. I passed all of the tests and completed all of the requirements for the course. I completed the “learning” for Geometry. I also took arithmetic and spelling. I passed those courses also, sometimes with an “A” sometimes not. Now here is my point, when I learned geometry, I learned it for the moment. I do not use a lot of that learning now so if I needed that knowledge today I would have to go and do research and “re-learn” it. When I learned how to spell and do arithmetic, I was committed to retaining that information because I would be using that learning for the rest of my life. These things that I committed to my heart and gained wisdom from I know today – they were not temporary learning for the moment. When your relationship with God is based on what you “think” you know there will always be a conflict when your personal desires conflict with what God says. Let me give you an example from the Old Testament. Turn to Genesis 3:1-13. This is the story of the fall of man:
“Now the serpent was more crafty than any beast of the field which the Lord God had made. And he said to the woman, ‘Indeed, has God said ‘You shall not eat from any tree in the garden?’ And the woman said to the serpent, ‘From the fruit of the trees of the garden we may eat; but from the fruit of the tree which is in the middle of the garden, God has said ‘You shall not eat from it or touch it, lest you die.’ And the serpent said to the woman, ‘You surely shall not die! For God knows that in the day you eat from it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.’ When the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was a delight to the eyes, and that the tree was desirable to make one wise, she took from its fruit and ate; and she gave also to her husband with her and he ate……...Then the Lord God said to the woman, ‘What is this you have done?’ And the woman said, ‘The serpent deceived me and I ate.” Genesis 3:1-6, 13
There are a couple of points I want to make here – I do not blame the woman for the fall of all mankind. Adam did not have to eat the fruit – he could have said no. He was accountable for his own sin. Having said that, now look at the interaction between the serpent (Satan) and Eve. We do not know if this whole interaction took place in one day or over a period of days but we do know that the serpent was able to convince Eve to eat the fruit that was forbidden to her. He used his cunning words and logic to make her decide to do something that she was told explicitly not to do.
When you read the story, the first verse says that the serpent “was more crafty than any of the beast.” Satan understood what it would take to get Eve to eat of that tree and he stayed with it until she ate. He asked her questions and then countered her answers with responses that were very logical. During this interaction, Satan basically “out talked” Eve and convinced her that she would be okay if she ate the fruit. Well, you know the rest of the story – she ate the fruit and then gave some to Adam. After both had eaten, their eyes were open and they knew the difference between good and evil. When God visited them in the Garden, they confessed what they had done. Now look at verse 13 and think about what Eve’s answer was when God questioned her. When Adam confessed that Eve had given him the fruit and he did eat it, God asked Eve about it. Eve said “The serpent deceived me and I ate.” That word ‘deceived’ has also been translated as “beguiled” which means to deceive or charm. What Satan did was “charm” Eve into eating the forbidden fruit. In the process of her discussion with Satan, Eve temporarily “forgot” what God had said. Eve knew God and knew what He had commanded, but in this conversation with Satan, Eve forgot what she was “not” supposed to do.
When you operate in a world dominated by “thinking”, you will have many opportunities to change “your way of thinking” to meet your current needs. By changing how you think in certain situations, you can easily forget what God has told you to do. Today we may think God hates liars, but when we are in a desperate situation and we feel the need to lie, at that moment we are not thinking that it is against God’s will. Someone once told me that “A lie is an abomination to Lord but a very present help in the time of trouble.” What that says is that although it is a sin to do it, it is easily done when we are in trouble and we expect God to “overlook” the lie, especially if no one was harmed by it. This is “thinking” I know God. You see, when I “know” God, I understand that no rationalization of the sin in my mind will make it acceptable to God. We may also have read that fornication is a sin against God, but in the heat of the moment, we do not think about what God said for we are too busy enjoying the moment. Again, no matter how I may “think” God see it, I should “know” beyond a shadow of doubt. It is not about what I think – it is about what I know. Eve considered everything that Satan told her and reached the conclusion that she should eat the fruit in order to be like God. She forgot about what God had told her. Satan caused her to forget – just like we sometimes forget “things” when our desires conflict with what we know God wants for us.
God desires that we should not forget Him or His will for our lives. Satan desires to use his cunning, soft spoken logic over time to get you to change your thought pattern. Think about this; if you know you are not to do something, would you allow a stranger to walk up to you and convince you to do it? No you would not. Why? Because there is no relationship, no trust and no commitment with the stranger. What Satan does is start the relationship slowly – he is very patient, and he uses time to slowly bring us around to his way of thinking. With his process, every small victory leads to a larger one. He will never dump everything on you at once, but he will give you a watered down version that is easier to swallow until he has you where he wants you. Remember this, Satan does not care that you go to church, sing in the choir or do any of a number of things as a “good Christian.” What scares Satan is when you decide that you want a personal relationship with God and you want to do His will. When you start doing God’s will and influencing others to do the same that is what makes Satan nervous. As long as you are going to Church but forgetting to fully allow God to rule in your life, you are no threat to Satan or anyone else. When you start acting on the faith that you have in your relationship with God, he takes notice. Sadly there are many people who go to Church yet they do not have a relationship with God. Satan is scared of our relationship with God – that is what threatens him. So how do we get there? How do we reach the point where our personal desires do not cause us to forget what God’s word says? We can find the answer in the directions that Moses gave to the Children of Israel and in the words of David.
II. I’ve Hidden Your Words In My Heart
When God brought the Children of Israel out of Egypt, it was crucial that they did not forget “how” He did it and the commandments He gave them along the way. Remember, when the Children of Israel came out of Egypt, they did not have the Bible as we do today that holds the history of God’s acts. They only had their oral records until Moses actually penned the first five books according to God’s instructions. Because of this, it was important that they taught their children about God and everything He had done on their behalf. Now notice what Moses says to the Children of Israel in Deuteronomy 4:9:
“Only give heed to yourself and keep your soul diligently, lest you forget the things which your eyes have seen, and lest they depart from your heart all the days of your life; but make them known to your sons and your grandsons.”
Deuteronomy 4:9
Moses told the people to remember what they had seen and to keep it so that it would not depart from their hearts. If they did not put forth a conscious effort to remember those things, he said that they would forget them. This is what happened to me with my geometry and other courses that I took that I no longer remember. If there are no active steps being taken to remember something, it will be forgotten. To “know” God is to know His words, not by memory, but within your heart. You must take His words and place them within your heart so that when the days come and you must make that crucial decision, you will not forget God’s words and your decision will be made accordingly. Listen to what David said in Psalm 119:11:
“Thy word I have treasured in my heart that I may not sin against Thee.”
Psalm 119:11
David, a man who had experience sinning against God and dealing with the results of his sin, made the statement that he had treasured God’s words in his heart. The word treasured is also interpreted as “hidden.” In other words, David said that he had hidden God’s words within his heart so that he would not sin against God. Why would hiding God’s words in his heart stop him from sinning against God? Because he would know when decisions were to be made, how God stood on the issue. When we know how God stands on an issue – it makes our decisions much easier to make. It is when we start to “think” about how God stands versus “knowing” how He stands are when the problems come. We must be focused on hiding God’s words in our hearts so that Satan cannot come along with any “smooth words” and cause us to forget what God has told us.
Conclusion
God is saying “Forget Me not!” God does not want us to forget Him when we need Him the most. Contrary to popular belief, most people think we need God the most when we are in a crisis situation, but in reality that is not the case. In truth we need God the most whenever we are tempted to forget His will for our lives in favor of our own desires. That is a daily need. When we recognize God first in our lives in our daily decisions, we “know” without a doubt that He is there in our crisis situations.
Do you know God? I mean, do you know Him well enough to confidently stand up for what He wills for your life? Do you know Him well enough to default to His standards versus your own watered down version of His standards? Do you know Him well enough to know that He will not compromise? Do you know Him?
Let me close with this. Do you remember how proud your parents were when you were faced with a situation where you had to make a choice and your decision was based on what your parents had taught you? Parents, do you remember how proud you were when your child came home and told you about how they stood up for what was right based on what you had taught them? This is how God feels when we default to Him in our decision making. He wants us to plant His word deeply within our hearts so that we will not forget his role in our lives and we will not sin against Him. Take some time this week and think about how you can honor God in remembering and following His teaching just as you honored your parents when you followed theirs and your kids honor you when they follow your teaching.
